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Hours after the so-called government shut-down, park police tried to block access to the WW II Memorial, which is basically a landscape feature in a public park---not the park itself.
Were they protecting it from terrorists? Or vandals?
Not exactly. A group of World War II veterans had been flown in to Washington DC this week to visit the Memorial.
The privately funded "Honor Flights" program has been doing this for some time, giving WW II vets a chance to visit the memorial in their lifetime. Most of them have never seen it and are in their late 80's or 90's.
For many of them, it's a last chance to see an expression of appreciation for their service to their country. A thank you for defending freedom in the great world war.
The visit to the memorial had been on the calendar for some time---it wasn't spontaneous or unexpected, however, they were nonetheless barred from approaching the monument.
Now we're hearing what the administration did in the early morning hours on the day of their visit.
Breitbart has learned that the federal government specifically called up resources to block these veterans from approaching the memorial.
A source on Capitol Hill told Mike Flynn that a park police officer told them, "They got a call in the early morning hours telling them although they had been furloughed, they were being called up to guard the memorial."
The memorial is an open structure on the National Mall. It's accessible by any pedestrian who walks by.
There is no "entrance" to guard or close, nor is there any "access" that needs special guarding.
Our government called up the furloughed police to "protect" the WW II Memorial from the very citizens whose sacrifice inspired it.
Is our government that out of touch with reality?
Or is this merely another face saving attempt by the President and his people to be sure American citizens "feel" the so-called shut down, as he threatened we would?
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-WA, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said yesterday, "It appears as though only the highly visible monuments and areas are being closed to the public---further proof that the Obama administration is only playing politics and purposefully choosing to make this shut down as painful as possible."
He said, "Their actions are shameful and wrong."
While there may be a little showmanship involved, there is equally anger and disgust among many, not the least of these was Rep. Steve King, R- Iowa. He actually joined the veterans, a good number of them with some difficulty in mobility. King distracted the police while the veterans tore down the barricades.
Rep. Michelle Bachman, R- Minn., said, "Republicans led the veterans in."
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, summed it up, "These are guys that were not stopped by Nazis, Fascists, Axis powers, Kamikazes....these guys made it through all that, and this is their memorial."
Well said.
Sarah Palin wrote on Facebook, "It's beyond shameful to see Barack Obama disrespect and mistreat our World War II veterans, so blatantly."
Palin also noted, "He's deployed more guards to bar our World War II heroes from their memorial than he sent to Benghazi when our consulate was under attack."
The veterans have come up with an appropriate nickname for the barricades erected to keep them from visiting their memorial.
They call them, "Barrycades."
Be Vigilant. Be Discerning. Be Informed. Be Prayerful. Be Active. Be Blessed.